The 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt is well known for his conservation accomplishments and his work to regulate corporate monopolies, which earned him the nickname “trust buster.”
Before rising to the presidency after the 1901 assassination of William McKinley, Roosevelt had a broad range of experience, including time as New York state assemblyman, a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, police commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service commissioner, assistant secretary of the Navy, colonel of the Rough Riders, governor of New York, and vice president.
Roosevelt’s love of nature was bolstered by hunting trips and time spent ranching in the Dakotas before his presidency.
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Among Roosevelt’s key accomplishments as a conservationist are the establishment of federal protection for almost 230 million acres of land, 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reservations, five national parks, and 18 national monuments,
according to the Theodore Roosevelt Association.
One of his first notable domestic moves was the National Reclamation Act of 1902, which established irrigation projects in the west.
The United States Forestry Service was created under Roosevelt’s administration in 1905, with Gifford Pinchot appointed as its first chief.
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One of Roosevelt’s most noted business regulation moves was a 1902 lawsuit under the Sherman Antitrust Act, which broke apart the railroad giant Northern Securities Company. He also negotiated the end of a coal strike in Pennsylvania.
His work to break apart monopolies led to his “Square Deal” domestic policy, a benchmark of his first term.
That program aimed to reform the workplace, regulate business, and protect consumers.
Legislation related to business regulation enacted during Roosevelt’s presidency includes the Elkins Act of 1903, the Hepburn Act of 1906, and the Federal Employers' Liability Act for Labor. He also worked on consumer protections, including the Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906.
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